Chaste (McCullough Mountain) (52 page)

“Hi,
Dr. Marcel. I’m good.” She smiled, barely able to contain her excitement to
hear the news.

“Did
your Christmas go well?”

Ashlynn’s
Christmas had been wonderful. Roy joined her and Kelly and all the other
McCulloughs for a feast intended for kings. They’d gone to midnight mass as a
family, taking up the majority of the church. The following morning, Kelly gave
her a beautiful necklace with an emerald pendant. The only thing missing was
the pitter-patter of little feet and the sight of dollies and tinker toys under
the tree.

“Our
holiday was lovely. And yours?”

“Very
nice. Thanks for asking.” She settled into the office style chair by the
counter and placed her palms on her knees. “Well, your blood work looks great
and your urine came back clear.”

Ashlynn’s
heart plummeted. “I’m not pregnant?”

Dr.
Marcel smiled sympathetically. “Not yet, but give it time. You’ve only been
trying for a few months. Some women find it takes years to successfully
conceive. Let’s take a look and make sure everything’s healthy,
hm
?”

Ashlynn
eased back on the table and placed her feet in the metal footrests. The doctor
poked and prodded at her parts as Ashlynn pretended she was somewhere else. A
moment later the sound of Dr. Marcel snapping off her gloves and tossing them
in the receptacle told Ashlynn the exam was complete.

“You
may sit up.”

Ashlynn
covered herself and waited as the doctor made notes in her file. She was still
recovering from the sting of bad news. Already Ashlynn had imagined a nice
dinner with her husband, full of baby carrots, baby back ribs, and other baby themed
foods. She’d fantasied about breaking the news and imagined him scooping her up
and making love to her right there in the kitchen as they celebrated their
family soon to come. That wouldn’t be happening now.

The
doctor closed the file and faced her. “Everything looks good. Your uterus is
healthy and I don’t see any reasons you should have difficulty conceiving. Now,
I’ll be seeing you again if you suspect you’re pregnant, but otherwise I don’t
need to see you until your next annual appointment. However, if more time goes
by and you still aren’t having any luck, you may want to have your husband
visit a specialist. I’m going to give you a card for a colleague of mine. I
wouldn’t rush into anything, but you’ll have it in case Kelly wants to have
some tests run on his end.”

Ashlynn
took the card and held it in her lap since at the moment she was without
pockets. It was just a question of timing. She was healthy and she doubted
Kelly was anything but. The man was potent in all things regarding sex. They’d
just have to wait another month or two.

As
she drove home, Ashlynn stared blankly at the white covered farmland. Perhaps
she couldn’t grow
anything
in the winter. Kelly came home around five,
which had become his routine.

When
he arrived she was watching a Lifetime movie in the living room cuddling one of
her mother’s quilts. Bending low, he kissed her. “Hey, love. You tired?”

She
turned off the television, which was only depressing her more and invited him
under the blanket. He kicked off his boots and joined her, pulling her close.

“I
went to the doctor’s today.”

“The
lady doctor?”

“Yes.”
She giggled at his grownup terminology. “She said everything looks good.
Sometimes it just takes longer for women to conceive.”

He
pressed his lips to her hair and hugged her. “It’ll happen.”

She
considered the card Dr. Marcel had given her. “She gave me a number to a
specialist—”

“A
specialist? You said everything was fine.”

“He’s
a specialist for men.”

Kelly
was quiet a moment. “Love, I assure you everything’s in top working order down
there. Now, if you’d like to perform an inspection I can take off my pants, but
I know for a fact I don’t need to see a specialist. My plumbing’s fine. We just
need to give it more time.”

Ashlynn
let the subject drop, but it continued to weigh on her over the next few weeks.
She and Kelly had sex almost every day, sometimes more than once. If everything
was in working order, she should be pregnant by now.

* * * *

By
February, when she still was not expecting, she was glad to see the arrival of
some out of area produce. Perhaps she was stressing her body out with all this
obsessing. She’d even picked up one of those basal thermometers at the drug
store, which frustrated Kelly.

He
sympathized when she cried. After so many months of having sex without
protection, the feelings of failure were inevitable. He threw the thermometer away
and made love to her. It was intense and reaffirming. The entire time he kept
his eyes on hers and she sensed he was putting all his focus on giving her a
child.

As
spring arrived she became more involved at work and that helped take her mind
off other issues. Kelly had done as he’d said and cut his hours at the pub back
to forty a week.

Lisa,
the new manager at the farmer’s market, was doing well with her new position.
Ashlynn was always a little overzealous when it came to her store. It had been
hers and only hers since the day she’d opened it. Letting go of her control and
learning to delegate tasks without micromanaging was indeed a challenge, but
Lisa was great, and Ashlynn was trying to stick to her lighter hours.

Her
mornings still started at dawn. She toiled in her gardens and soon would be
cutting off her outside suppliers and lugging truckloads of homegrown produce
to the market.

Kelly
had taken up making dinner since by evening she was exhausted. On the weekends
when her husband spent most of his time at the bar, Ashlynn, Sheilagh, and
Mallory would go to the diner for supper and follow up with wine at the house.
Mallory of course did not drink because she was still pregnant.

It
was difficult sometimes, hearing about the twins and seeing Mallory swell with
her and Finn’s third child. Over the winter Ashlynn had watched Liam for
Samantha and Colin. She loved that little bugger and his chunky thighs. It
filled her with sadness when he turned six months and Sam announced he would be
starting at the day care where the Lula went. The seasons were changing and her
schedule would, again, return to the busy way it always was in the warmer
months.

Perhaps
having a child wouldn’t weigh on her mind so much if the married McCulloughs
didn’t breed like rabbits. Even Kate had announced she and Ant were trying for
their fourth. Ashlynn knew it would crush Kelly if Kate conceived before them,
but she wasn’t very hopeful they’d get there first.

Something
was definitely wrong. Ashlynn knew it in her gut. She could grow almost
anything, except a baby. No matter how her husband reassured her, she sensed no
amount of sex would change their circumstances.

* * * *

Kelly
poured a line of shots for his brothers, including Bray who was home from
Pittsburg. “Will you take off that fucking tie,” he said as he passed Bray a
shot.

His
brother tugged at the knot. “I’m so used to wearing it I forget it’s on.”

Finn
laughed. “You’re the only man in Center County with a fancier wardrobe than all
the women put together.”

Bray
gave them the finger as they tossed back their shots. Kelly left to check on
the other customers. It wasn’t until two a.m. that he and his brothers actually
got to sit together and relax.

“Is
Ashlynn busy farming again?” Bray asked.

Kelly
stretched. “Yup. She’s up at the butt crack of dawn and doesn’t stop until
supper time.”

“You
guys doing better, now that your schedules are a little more synched?”

Kelly
shrugged. “We were never really doing bad. Marriage is an up and down ride. We
manage.”

Luke
nudged him. “Maybe you should be riding that coaster a little more. That way
you could give us some more McCulloughs.”

Kelly
smiled, but Luke’s comment grated on him. Why wasn’t Ashlynn pregnant yet? He’d
asked himself the same question every day.

 
Every month when her cycle started, he
overheard her quiet cries. Listening to her softly sniffle in the bathroom
where she assumed he was unaware, made him want to hit something. Nothing
compared to the way her disappointment tortured him and, above all else, he
wanted to give her this.

Why
couldn’t she conceive? Maybe her doctor was wrong. Maybe there was a problem.

Or
maybe it’s you.

The
thought dwelled in his head for the past several weeks and he couldn’t shake
it. There was no way the problem was on his end. Trojan should be paying him
for all the business he gave them over the years. A man doesn’t tithe his
income on condoms for no reason. He was sure he had hardy little swimmers.

Maybe
you drank too much.

 
He grimaced inwardly, but kept a smile
firmly on his lips. Luke stood. “I’m taking off.”

Tristan
fished his keys out of his pocket. “I’m out too. Long day tomorrow.”

Finn
kicked the last of his beer. “I think I’m gonna head out too.” He grabbed the
brown bag of sweet potato fries, part of his wife’s conditions for letting him
go out while she was at home with the twins and her pregnant self.

Bray
sat contently, seeming in no rush to go. Luke turned to him. “You want a ride,
bro?”

“Nah,
I’m gonna hang out with Kelly a while longer.” They said goodbye. And Kelly
brought over two more beers.

“It’s
weird with Colin not here. I guess he would’ve been elsewhere anyway, but since
he’s not at the Vatican I sort of expected him to come out with us,” Bray said.

Kelly
sighed and leaned back. “Sammy’s parents are visiting. They don’t get to see
Lula and Liam all the time like the rest of us.”

Bray
sipped his beer. “So, what’s going on with you? I can see something’s on your
mind.”

His
brows lifted. “Nothing. I’m good.”

“Don’t
bullshit me, Kelly. I know something’s up.”

Tipping
his head back he let out a deep groan and leveled his brother with his gaze.
“Ashlynn and I have been trying to have a baby.”

“
Mazeltov
!” Bray clanked his beer with his.

“It
hasn’t been going so well.”

“You
guys aren’t sleeping together?”

“No,
it’s not that. The sex is off the charts. We don’t know what the problem is.”

“Well,
give it time. How long have you been trying?”

“Since
our wedding night.”

“Oh.”
His brother looked away for a minute. “Damn. Is the problem on her end or
yours?”

“Her
doctor says she’s fine.”

“And
what does your doc say?”

“I
don’t have a doctor.”

Braydon
frowned at him. “Well, if you want kids maybe you should think about getting
one.”

“Come
on, man. There can’t be an issue with my luggage. Look at our lineage.
McCulloughs outnumber the town’s population three to one.”

Braydon
shrugged. “Nothing’s perfect. Why don’t you go to the doctor and get yourself
some reassurance.”

“I’m
not fucking a cup.”

Bray
snorted. “You don’t fuck it, moron. You jerk off and give them a sample. They
give you results and it’s done. Imagine what girls have to suffer. We got it
easy.”

Kelly
eyed his brother critically. Braydon had grown up. It was more than just his
clothes. There was a new maturity about him since he’d landed a job with the
architecture firm.

“Maybe
you’re right.”

“I
usually am.”

“Cocky
bastard. So how’s the burg? You killing it over there with the lassies?” When
his brother’s expression tightened with a smirk Kelly laughed. “Spill.”

“It’s
nothing. Totally not serious and it’s never going to go anywhere. She’s…
different.”

“Different
like…special or different like she has a very small but real penis?”

Bray
tossed a cold fry at him. “No, arse. She’s older.”

“Reeeeeally?
Got yourself a cougar? What are you, like, her pool boy?”

“It’s
not like that.”

“Then
tell me what it’s like, the McCullough golden son getting his jollies off with
Mrs. Robinson.”

He
chuckled. “Ironically, her last name
is
Robinson.”

“Shut
up!”

“Dead
serious.”

“So
what’s she do? What’s she like?”

Bray
sipped his beer with a smirk. “She’s my boss.”

“What?
Is that how you landed the job?”

“No!
I didn’t meet her until after I was hired. She’s no joke, doesn’t take any
shit, and knows exactly what she wants and can’t be bothered with less.”